By Jonathan Kimak What do you do when you’re a little tiny country that makes more money than countries 5 times your size? You spend money on crazy stuff. At least that’s what I think the United Arab Emirates(UAE) are doing. They’ve created skyscrapers with tennis courts on them, are planning to make rotating buildings and […]
By Jonathan Kimak
What do you do when you’re a tiny little country that makes more money than countries 5 times your size? You spend money on crazy stuff. At least that’s what I think the United Arab Emirates(UAE) are doing. They’ve created skyscrapers with tennis courts on them, are planning to make rotating buildings and now are going for a 33 storey LED display.
The LED display will cover the entire side of a building and will have images viewable 1.5km away. With a display that powerful they’d better be careful what sort of advertisements get played. There could be a lot of traffic accidents from a 330 foot Victoria’s Secret ad.
By Evan Ackerman The problem with the future is that by definition, it keeps on getting closer but it’s never quite here. Frustrating. It seems that even though we haven’t reached the flying car stage yet, we’ve managed to make it to drivable airplane. The Terrafugia Transition is basically a little airplane with a pusher prop, four […]
By Evan Ackerman
The problem with the future is that by definition, it keeps on getting closer but it’s never quite here. Frustrating. It seems that even though we haven’t reached the flying car stage yet, we’ve managed to make it to drivable airplane. The Terrafugia Transition is basically a tiny airplane with a pusher prop, four wheels, and foldable wings that’s certified by both the FAA as a light airplane and by the NHTSA as a street legal (and safe and insurable) automobile. It’s certainly innovative, but in a lot of ways, it’s extremely simple: there’s no ducted fans or thruster pods or pulse jets to let you take off out of traffic jams or anything… It’s really just an airplane. With enough foldy bits to make it a automobile.
As far as mechanics go, the Transition is gas powered, with a range of about 450 miles. Anyone can get in and drive the vehicle, although you need key code to deploy the wings, so your children (or your cat) won’t be able to take off in the automobile, so to speak. You will need a pilot’s license to fly the Transition, but just a light sport license, which is significantly cheaper and easier to obtain. The first Terrafugia Transition is scheduled to take to the air next month, and you should be able to buy one for yourself by the end of 2009, for $194,000. For that price, you could purchase a new vehicle and a new plane… But try driving them both at the same time.
By Jonathan Kimak When you combine night time with alcohol and loneliness you might end up pondering the meaning of life. But you don’t want to ponder alone, so you drunkenly call or email someone that you probably shouldn’t be calling or emailing in your current say of mind. There’s nothing that I know of to prevent […]
By Jonathan Kimak
When you combine night time with alcohol and loneliness you may end up pondering the meaning of life. But you don’t want to ponder alone, so you drunkenly call or email someone that you probably shouldn’t be calling or emailing in your current say of mind.
There’s nothing that I know of to prevent drunk dialing but now google has created an application to halt you from drunk emailing.
Called Mail Goggles, the add-on to gmail will force you to complete some math questions during certain times when you’re most apt to send something you will regret later. The default active time for Mail Goggles is nights during the weekend but you can change the settings to suit your own habits(If you’re brave enough to admit that you have any).
By Luke Anderson I’ve been a Netflix subscriber for around a year now, which means I watch a lot of movies. When they started letting me watch streaming movies for free, even more of my time was spent watching movies. That’s until I switched over to a Mac. See, the Netflix player has this one […]
By Luke Anderson
I’ve been a Netflix subscriber for around a year now, which means I watch a lot of movies. When they started letting me watch streaming movies for free, even more of my time was spent watching movies. That is until I switched over to a Mac. See, the Netflix player has this one little requirement, which is that you have to use it inside of Internet Explorer. That’s bad enough on a Windows machine (Firefox all the way!), but damn near impossible on a Mac (unless you happen to also be running Windows inside of it).
Well it seems that the guys over at Netflix have heard the cries of the Mac-loving community, and are hard at work on making their software compatible with Apple’s OS. According to a recent announcement, you will be able to stream movies to your Mac by the year’s end.
By Jonathan Kimak TN Games is releasing a gaming vest called the 3rd Space Vest. The vest allows a player to “feel” the things that their on-screen avatar feels. Kicks, punches and even environmental effects such as the wind can be experienced through the vest. With support for WoW the vest will also grant a player […]
By Jonathan Kimak
TN Games is releasing a gaming vest called the 3rd Space Vest. The vest allows a player to “feel” the things that their on-screen avatar feels. Kicks, punches and even environmental effects such as the wind can be experienced through the vest. With support for WoW the vest will also grant a player to feel the effects of spells on their body. Other games like Call of Duty 2 and BioShock are also supported.
Feedback vests are nothing new and I’ve never been a fan. But if you’re curious and live in Los Angeles you can check out the vest at the E for All Expo starting today(October 3) and going until October 5.
(Image courtesy daily dose of imagery. Used with permission.) By Andrew Liszewski Nuit Blanche is an annual all-night cultural festival that started in Paris in 2002, and has since spread to other massive cities around the world, including Toronto. The event is held overnight on the first Saturday and Sunday in October, and one of the premiere […]
Nuit Blanche is an annual all-night cultural festival that started in Paris in 2002, and has since spread to other massive cities around the world, including Toronto. The event is held overnight on the first Saturday and Sunday in October, and one of the premiere exhibits here in Toronto this year will be the new Project Blinkenlights installation known as Stereoscope. The two curved towers that make up our city hall will be turned into giant pixel displays showing animations as well as letting people play interactive games like Pong via their mobile phones.
Last night I was lucky enough to wander past city hall as Project Blinkenlights was performing some of their first live tests, but unfortunately the only camera I had on hand was the crappy iPhone. Thankfully, a photoblogging friend of mine managed to snap some considerably superior photos and was gracious enough to let me use one for this post. (You can find more shots on his site, daily dose of imagery.) I did however get a opportunity to talk to a couple of people from the project who were shooting footage for a documentary. According to them, not only will Stereoscope will be the first time the installation uses 2 buildings at the same time (hence the name) but it will also improve on past versions with every pixel being able to display 16 distinct levels. (Compared to just 8 and 4 previously.) Each window uses a 150W spotlight that’s diffused by a screen and controlled by a custom-built dimmer to create the individual pixels, and all 960 dimmers are wirelessly controlled by a master computer. In fact, Stereoscope actually uses quite a bit of new technology and software given the size of Toronto’s city hall (like going wireless instead of running cables) and so far it all looks rather impressive.
I’ll be stopping by Saturday night to grab some superior pics of my own, as well as a video or two if the weather cooperates, and if any of our readers in Toronto will be checking it out, let me know in the comments. But for those who won’t be able to be there live, did I mention that Project Blinkenlights has also created a Stereoscope iPhone app allowing you to see what’s being displayed at any given time? You can read more about it after the jump.
I have to say, as impressive as seeing Stereoscope running in person is, I was just as impressed by the iPhone/iPod Touch application they created to go along with it. It provides you with a 3D interactive model of Toronto’s city hall that includes whatever animation or interactive exhibit is currently being displayed, all in real-time. The 3D model can be rotated and zoomed using the multi-touch display, or you can select one of 8 preset virtual camera positions for the optimal viewing angle.
While Nuit Blanche only takes place over one night, Stereoscope will apparently be running each night for the entire week, so even if you can’t make it in person on Saturday, you should be able to halt by during the rest of the week. And if you can’t make it to Toronto at all for the exhibit, the app is probably the next best thing to being there.
By Luke Anderson Seeing a DeLorean up for sale on eBay isn’t anything new. Every now and then you come across one that tries to pass itself off as a time machine, which is always cool to see. However, it is rare that you find one that features an electric motor. Someone has taken the time and […]
By Luke Anderson
Seeing a DeLorean up for sale on eBay isn’t anything new. Each now and then you come across one that tries to pass itself off as a time machine, which is always cool to see. However, it is rare that you find one that features an electric motor.
Someone has taken the time and effort to swap out their 1981 DeLorean DMC-12’s motor with a WarP 9 electric motor, which is powered by thirteen 12 volt 100 amp-hour batteries. This will get you around 40 miles per charge, with a top speed of over 88 MPH. That 88 MPH is important since that’s the speed needed to activate the Flux Capacitor which was also installed.
There are two disappointments that I see here. First, the “Buy It Now” price is set at $100,000 which is a bit salty, even for an electric DeLorean. Second, this guy has a Flux Capacitor, has traveled into the future, and battery technology still sucks. Okay, so maybe I made up that last part.
By Luke Anderson I’ve found few ways to relieve stress that feel quite as good as going a few rounds with a punching bag. After a little while you get into a zone where you forget about all of the troubles of your day, and focus only on the bag. The best part is that it’s […]
By Luke Anderson
I’ve found few ways to relieve stress that feel quite as good as going a few rounds with a punching bag. After a tiny while you get into a zone where you forget about all of the troubles of your day, and focus only on the bag. The best part is that it’s a pretty good work out to boot. Sure, most punching bags don’t make good company, but there is at least one that’ll entertain you as you beat on it.
This Love Hate Punch bag was designed by artist Stefan Gross. It is illuminated with a red light (likely to represent anger or stress) that gradually changes to white (likely representing peace) as you continue to strike it. If you let up too long or slow down, the color will return to its original state. This would actually be a great way to keep your pace during a workout, if only it were available for buy.
By Luke Anderson Somehow the month of October is already upon us, and with it comes the cool weather of fall. This of course serves as a reminder of the much colder weather that’ll be here before we know it. With all of the great technology we’ve, there are plenty of gadgets that’ll […]
By Luke Anderson
Somehow the month of October is already upon us, and with it comes the cool weather of fall. This of course serves as a reminder of the much colder weather that will be here before we know it. With all of the great technology we have, there are plenty of gadgets that’ll make sure you keep plenty warm this winter. One such device is this Heated Traction Mat.
When it starts getting really cold, just lay this might down along your walkway, and turn it on any time it snows. This will keep your walkway snow-free without the need of a shovel. If you forget to turn it on before the snow starts, it will still melt it away at a rate of 2-inches per hour.
This seems like a great winter gadget, however, I find there to be a couple of problems with it. First, if your walkway slopes downward toward the street, all of the melted snow will run down and create a sheet of ice, which will only cause further issues. Second, at a price of $1,100 for a 2′x15′ mat, it’s just not very cost-effective. You could probably pay a neighbor kid to shovel your walkway and driveway for many years at that price.
By Luke Anderson I’m lazy when it comes to shaving. I’ll go sometimes a week without even bothering to trim my facial hair. When I do get around to it, I spend just a few minutes with an electric razor and am done with it. Sure, I could probably get better results if I actually took […]
By Luke Anderson
I’m lazy when it comes to shaving. I’ll go sometimes a week without even bothering to trim my facial hair. When I do get around to it, I spend just a few minutes with an electric razor and am done with it. Sure, I could probably get better results if I actually took the time to use a real razor, but I have light colored hair anyway, so five o’clock shadow isn’t a big deal. However, if unlike me you’re concerned about your facial hair, and must have it shaved perfectly, look no further than the Slim Trim Razor.
I’m really not sure that I know anyone anal enough to precisely measure out where they’re shaving. If you totally must get those sideburns to within a millimeter of each other, than by all means, get yourself one of these. Unfortunately at this time the product is still a concept, so you’re going to have to do all of the measuring with a plain old ruler.
I have to say, as impressive as seeing Stereoscope running in person is, I was just as impressed by the iPhone/iPod Touch application they created to go along with it. It provides you with a 3D interactive model of Toronto’s city hall that includes whatever animation or interactive exhibit is currently being displayed, all in real-time. The 3D model can be rotated and zoomed using the multi-touch display, or you can select one of 8 preset virtual camera positions for the optimal viewing angle.
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